Elisabeth Cerda

Elisabeth Cerda (Betty), of Kalamazoo passed away on Wednesday, April 29, 2020 at the age of 93. She was born in Steyr, Austria, on May 9, 1926 as the only child of Franz and Maria (Kleine) Sindelar and spent the WWII years in Austria, finishing high school there. In 1945, at the end of the war, Steyr was first occupied by Russian and then by US Forces. Betty worked as an interpreter and translator for the American Forces which occupied her hometown. There she met PFC. Otto J. Cerda. They were engaged the following year and she immigrated to the United States under the War Brides Act in 1947. On August 2, 1947 they were united in marriage in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In 1951, the Cerda’s moved to the Portage area where they lived for the next 62 years before moving to Wyndham at the Heritage Community in Kalamazoo. Betty studied one year at the University of Innsbruck, Austria, and finished her education at Western Michigan University in 1961 with a BA and MS in chemistry. She was employed by the Upjohn Company as an organic chemist and computer scientist until her retirement in 1987 after 32 years of service with the company. Betty was a member of the American Chemical Society, the Association of Computing Machinery, the Upjohn Rx Divers, SCUBA Club and the Metropolitan Opera Guild. Betty enjoyed many hobbies. She was an outdoor person and with her husband loved to travel, returning annually to Austria. They both liked camping, hiking and backpacking in the mountains of Austria and the Western USA. Gardening and swimming were her passions that lead to 30 years of SCUBA diving in many parts of the world. Betty was an accomplished and award winning photographer, above and below water. Another one of her loves was classical music, especially opera that brought her regularly to New York City and Chicago. Betty could never sit idle; she was always busy with sewing, knitting, crocheting and other crafts. She was an avid reader and wrote articles about her adventures. The computer was a big part of her life. Betty was preceded in death by her husband Otto, on August 13, 2019. They had been married for 72 years. She is survived by a step brother Kurt (Johanna) Kirchmayr in Weistrach, Austria. In the US her survivors are her niece and nephew Carol and John Perschbacher of Grandville MI, plus the extended Cerda Family. Memorial contributions can be made to Hospice of SW Michigan located at 222 N. Kalamazoo Mall Suite #100, Kalamazoo, MI 49007. The family is being cared for by the Avink Funeral Home & Cremation Society, 129 S. Grand Schoolcraft, MI 49087 (269-679-5622). While at Betty’s webpage at www.avinkcremation.com please take time to sign her guestbook by lighting a candle and/or sharing a memory with the family.